


Their Personal Oceans

by captainoflifeandlemons



Category: Tides (Podcast)
Genre: (sort of), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Cryptozoology, Gen, I'll add other characters & relationships as I go, but for now: spoilers, this fic is a work of absolute nonsense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24713311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainoflifeandlemons/pseuds/captainoflifeandlemons
Summary: When biology major Fred Eurus gets turned down for a summer internship, her former TA Melissa Wang invites her along on a trip up the coast with her friend Ed Ricketts to do some independent research. They’re joined by undergraduates Victor Stevens and Robert Montague. Everyone is ready for a trip full of science, shenanigans, and interpersonal growth—until Fred encounters something inexplicable in the water. Suddenly, their expedition transforms into a full-on cryptozoological survey as the crew finds out that the fine line between myth and reality isn't so "fine" after all.For Robert Montague, clandestine vampire, this introduces some...challenges.(Or in other words, the Tides tag on AO3 is my city now and nobody can stop me from filling it with absolute nonsense.)
Relationships: Robert Montague & Marian Braunstein
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Their Personal Oceans

Dear Marian,

Are you shocked and amazed that I wrote you an honest-to-god letter? It’s got a stamp and everything! Probably. In all fairness, it doesn’t have a stamp yet, but I assume I found one to slap on there if this got through to you. Anyways, I did promise to write you letters as recompense for abandoning you this summer, and far be it from me to break a promise. 

(Okay, I’ve broken a lot of promises, but far be it from me to break a promise to _you_.)

Since I called you a couple days ago, I won’t recount the whole start of the trip again. Up until yesterday, everything was going well enough. Ed is still wildly awkward around me, which I guess makes sense, even though I told him to forget about that whole misunderstanding last year. Victor and I have been getting along really well—he’s a cool guy, for a bio major. Unlike certain other bio majors I could name, who are mad at me for complete accidents that were nobody’s fault. (Seriously, the lab is still habitable and everything, now that they’ve replaced the valves! I don’t see what the big deal is.) I know Fred is one of Melissa’s best friends, but I’m not sure how we’re going to spend a full month on the same boat without one of us murdering the other. By which I mean her murdering me. There’s a zero percent chance I come out on top of that fight, even given certain extenuating circumstances in my favor. 

I’m getting sidetracked, though. I have an actual reason for writing, aside from the fact that you’re my sister and I love you dearly, etc., etc. I’m in trouble, Marian. 

I think I’m maybe in a lot of trouble. 

I mean, it’s fine, and probably not even an issue, and you definitely shouldn’t worry about it, but there is a slight chance that everything is about to be horrible forever now and I’ll have to change my name and move to a different country, again. 

Our fun, DIY science research trip up the coast has gotten a little bit...sidetracked. Last night, Fred saw something in the water. Someone, I should say. Someone not human. I didn’t see them, but we all heard the song. They were some kind of siren. She actually dove into the water after them once they disappeared—you’ve got to respect that kind of reckless, idiotic bravery. Well, you probably don’t, but I do. Thankfully for her, they were already gone, so she was fine and babbling about mermaids when Melissa and Ed hauled her back onto the deck. I tried to play it cool, all “Mermaids?? What?? WILD!!,” but like I said, we all heard the song. Even Ed looked spooked as he tried to calm Fred down and convince her she’d imagined it. Maybe he would have succeeded—probably not, but maybe—if Victor hadn’t chosen that moment to speak up. 

He grew up around here, apparently. A little further down, near the bay, but close. And this wasn’t the first time he’d heard them singing. He said that when he was ten, he followed the sound, that he saw someone or something in the water. His family moved away the next year, and he thought he’d dreamed it until tonight. Until he heard it again. His description matched up with what Fred had seen. And apparently, thanks to that whole childhood encounter, he’s big into cryptozoology and bio-mythology, which is awesome. Just awesome. Totally great and not at all something I wish I’d known before deciding he was my new best friend. 

The long and short of it is, our summer shenanigans boating expedition has abruptly turned into a supernatural cryptid hunt to determine the truth behind some of the folklore of this part of the country. Which is going to be all kinds of fun for me, because. You know. 

Vampire. 

So, uh, stay tuned for updates on that, I guess. But really, you shouldn’t worry. I’ve been passing myself off as human for longer than you’ve been around. This will be fine. This will be just fine.

-Robert

**Author's Note:**

> This is a vampire fact: A vampire who writes letters is called a stampire.


End file.
